1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for properly positioning buttons having "sew-through" holes, for attachment to garments or fabric, and particularly for hand sewing attachment of these buttons in a uniform manner.
2. The Prior Art
Sew-through buttons come in many shapes and sizes, but most have either two or four holes. The conventional method of attaching buttons to garments or fabrics by hand is with thread. In this method, the button to be attached is positioned at a desired location on the garment or fabric and a threaded needle is sequentially inserted through each hole in the button and through the garment or fabric several times until a sufficient number of strands of thread are formed to securely hold the button onto the garment or fabric. The ends of the thread are then tied or otherwise fastened so that the thread will not unravel. This is most commonly achieved by laterally wrapping the strands firmly with additional thread.
Where, as in most cases, it is necessary to elevate the button from the garment or fabric, the formation of a pedestal effect or shank is needed. The purpose of this shank is to provide a loose fit between the button and fabric. When the button passes through a button hole on a second piece of material, the shank provides sufficient clearance and freedom of movement of the button to provide easy manipulation and ample spacing of the button for fastening. A problem encountered when hand sewing buttons to fabric is providing this shank between the bottom of the button and the garment or fabric and, in particular, to provide all buttons on a garment with uniform shanks.
This problem has been solved in the past by holding the button away from the garment or fabric by hand and sewing as usual. Although this method is somewhat satisfactory in providing a space, it suffers from the following disadvantages:
a. It is clumsy to hold both pieces in place by hand; and PA1 b. It is difficult to hold the button spaced parallel to the fabric. If the button is not held firmly in this position during sewing, the shank will be uneven. In addition, with this method it is highly unlikely there will be any consistency in the height of the buttons sewn to the same garment or fabric. PA1 a. This method is clumsy in that both the toothpick, or other object, are loose and must he held in place, along with the button and garment or fabric, during stitching; PA1 b. If the toothpick, or other object, is not smooth, it can catch upon threads during removal and cause an uneven shank, damaged threads, or damage to the garment or fabric; and. PA1 c. It is time consuming to interrupt a sewing project to hunt for properly sized spacing objects which will provide uniform spacing. PA1 a. It is clumsy to hold the sewing aid, due to its size and shape; and PA1 b. There is nothing to hold the sewing aid in place during sewing.
One known approach to solving this problem has been to lay a toothpick, or other similar small, flat object, across or beneath the button such that it is positioned between the sew-through button holes. After stitching of the button is completed, the toothpick is removed by sliding it out from between the button and thread, which thus provides for sufficient slack in the thread to form a shank. At this point the strands of the shank are wrapped firmly with additional thread. Although this method is somewhat satisfactory in providing a space, it suffers from the following disadvantages:
U.S. Design Pat. No. 262,838 shows a button spacer of the above type. This spacer has several arms to accommodate for different shank lengths.
The problem has been addressed in the use of a button elevator formed as a portion of a conventional flat plastic sewing aid, such as a ruler. This sewing aid has keyhole shaped openings formed along one side or end edge. The button is placed on top of the sewing aid with the holes centered over the opening. While this is somewhat more satisfactory than the previously discussed methods, it suffers from the following disadvantages:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,955 shows a button sewing aid of the above type. However, this device is intended for use with a sewing machine where the foot of the machine will hold everything in place during sewing. Should this device be used for hand sewing, it would have all of the above discussed problems.
It would be advantageous to have a device which will properly position a button during the sewing operation, provide consistent spacing of the buttons from the garment or fabric, and will hold itself in place so as to enhance the ease of use.